The perception of Beauty
by Agrypniahime
Summary: Despite their happy and established relationship, Molly feels insecure about her body in the morning. Greg convinces her not to.


It was early in the morning when Molly warily cracked open one eye to take in her surroundings.  
There was a white ceiling high above her and a blue-grey sheet hovered over her face at one point. When she pushed it away and tucked her hair behind her ears, she recognised Greg's flat. Although they had been dating for the past five months, she was still confused to wake up somewhere different than her own flat. Maybe it had something to do with Molly not being a morning person. Or maybe something with her own disbelief she could really be together with Greg whom she always had considered out of reach when he was still married and then out of her league when he finally had left that mess of a marriage behind until he suddenly, pointedly casually asked her out for coffee.

When she heard Greg rummaging around in the kitchen – he always woke up early and insisted on making breakfast for them ("Might as well use the time I gain from waking up so early for something useful." ) – she unconsciously tugged the blanket back over her upper body.  
When Molly and Greg had gotten past the coffee-and-dinner-stage, they already had decided to just drop the age gap issue. As soon as they were attracted to each other, age wouldn't matter and just like everything in their relationship, once they had reached an agreement things had evolved smoothly without any obligations or awkwardness.

Molly smiled. Greg had been straight forward and honest with anything that had happened – "Man my age can't lose too much time being shy like a teenager, eh?" – but never pushed her to anything. And just like that it had become so easy to be in a relationship.  
Although sometimes when she fondly looked up at him, hair ruffled from a good night's sleep, pyjama bottoms hanging loosely from his hips and his lean but well muscled torso visible, she couldn't help but wonder just how she'd managed to get this way too handsome man's attention.

"You're doing that again." Greg commented with a slight furrow in his brow and casually closed the door with his bottom. Molly blinked at and looked up at him, confusion on her face.  
"I'm doing what?" she asked back, hands curled around the blanket.  
Greg sighed and moved closer, entering the bed and crawling over her prone form. "You're hiding under the blankets." he explained and tugged on the sheet. "Every time I enter the room, you do that."  
Molly blinked again and glanced down, just now noticing she'd wrapped the sheets around her body, unconsciously hiding her naked form.  
She wasn't a prude and didn't mind the nakedness during sex, but in the morning light, she remembered her increasingly soft belly and her small breasts. Greg had never commented on that before, but it seemed like he wasn't about to let her get away with it today.

"Oh." she just silently said and smiled awkwardly. "I didn't even notice."

His brown eyes became softer and he leaned over to touch her hair, detangling her strands.  
"I know, that's why I'm saying that." he answered and looked down at her with that serious, honest expression. Molly blinked up at him, letting her brown eyes meet his. Whenever he put that expression on, she felt a bit like a little girl being scolded and a bit more infatuated with his warm, shining eyes.  
"Sometimes I could swear you have no idea just how beautiful you are." Greg sighed and continued to stroke her hair. "Because, I know that bastard commented on your body just as he seemed fit, and I know you often let that get to you, but really… just look at you."  
Molly sank a bit back into the pillow, biting her lip, unable to turn away her eyes from him when he looked at her with that expression. His hand slid away from her hair to cup her face and he leaned down to rest his forehead against her. Their breaths mingled and he brushed his lips against hers. Molly smiled when she could taste he'd already had a cup of coffee in the kitchen.

She could feel his hands slide down and push away the blanket, revealing her naked body he was towering over. His fingertips tenderly touched the small hollow between her neck and collarbones, then tracing patterns over the whole length of them before they slid down from her shoulders over her arms. Her body tingled where he'd touched it and she let out a shuddering breath into his slightly parted lips.  
"You really have no reason at all to hide anything." Greg mumbled into her mouth, slipping his hands over her rib cage and gently stroked her soft skin, his thumbs caressing the lower part of her breasts. Molly closed her eyes and sighed, stretching her back and revealing more of her torso from below the blankets.

Greg's hands were warm and his touch was gentle but firm when he slid his hands over her the whole of her breasts and rubbed his palms against her nipples. Molly gasped at the unexpectedly forward touch and felt him smile against her lips. She let her arms slide around his neck and looked up at him, only vaguely seeing his eyes since their faces were so close, but he shushed her with a kiss and continued his appreciation expedition, shifting a bit downwards so his face was now hovering over her chest.

"I love your breasts." he stated firmly, meeting Molly's gaze and smirking at her flushed face. "I don't care someone else might think they're small, they're round and soft and so sensitive." He brushed his hands over her nipples again and she arched into his touch, goose bumps raising all over her skin. A raw, throaty sound escaped Molly and he smiled up at her, giving her no time to feel embarrassed about it. "They're beautiful and healthy, so there's no reason for you to embarrassed about them."

Molly swallowed and followed his movements with her eyes, lying still and letting him rediscover her body. She closed her eyes for a moment when he pulled away the sheets completely and concentrated on her belly – she'd gained some weight since Greg decided to cook for her as often as he could and was completely happy to share a tub of ice cream with her in the evenings in front of a movie – and let his hands stroke her sides, over her middle, caressing her so fondly and lovingly she felt tears prickling in her eyes. She blinked a few times, her hands ruffling his hair until he slipped further below and she just let them fall beside her.  
His lips found her belly button and he kissed it, making her giggle when his stubble scratched over her ticklish tummy, and his grin told her he'd noticed.

"Don't!" she gasped, but he had already launched a full-on tickle attack. Greg held her in place until she gasped for air and desperately tried to curl away from him. He chuckled at her red face and gleaming eyes, reaching upwards to plant a firm kiss on her lips, wrapping his arms around her waist.  
"You're so far from being allowed to worry over your weight." he told her and stroked the skin over her hip bones with his thumbs. "At least I can see that I'm feeding you up properly, you were all skin and bones earlier, eh?"  
Molly blushed again, but he didn't let her avert her eyes this time, kissing her thoroughly while his hands explored the lower parts of her body. Not stopping to caress her, he planted a firm hand on her bum and squeezed it.

"Greg!" she gasped, but he just hummed low in his throat and squeezed it again, pressing her form against his.  
"What? I'm making a point here." he chuckled and kissed her temple. "Christ, I still remember that Christmas party, you know, when you wore that black dress and it fit you, really. I should really be glad everyone else was being distracted by that idiot."  
Molly felt her cheeks grow hot and she lightly slapped his head. Finally feeling she was allowed to move more than shift to accompany his caresses, she pushed him back in the mattress and crawled on top of him.  
"So you liked it?" she asked and leaned on his torso, both hands on his collarbones. Greg grinned up at her and firmly planted his other hand on her bottom as well, keeping her pressed against him.  
"Bloody hell, I did! But not half as much as I like you without clothes." he replied cheekily and relished in her outburst of laughter before she leaned down and captured his lips in a resolute kiss. She could feel his hands slide over her skin and when she met his eyes, his adoration was tangible. Molly couldn't help but lean down and kiss him again, her heart almost aching with the inexplicable amount of love she felt for that stubborn, honest, wonderful man beneath her.

His hands traced every little spot and stretch mark on her skin, gently drawing patterns over her prone lying form, kissing every inch of skin she'd tried to hide away usually. When she tried to squirm away, he'd hold her in place and gently mumbled loving remarks in her skin, until she relaxed into his touch. Greg took her hand and showed her he had the same stretch marks on his back from when he'd grown so fast, and that there was a scar above his knee. There were small imperfections on every body and Molly felt a bit silly about her insecurity. She'd worked with bodies for the longest time of her life and she'd known about that, but where she hadn't minded these marks or additional weight at all on the bodies on her slab, she'd hated them on her own body. Now, with her hands all over Greg's warm and perfectly vivd body, the brunette felt like she'd finally made a missing important connection: these spots and scars and stretch marks were proof of life, and wasn't that beautiful, being alive?

When they later lay curled up against each other in bed, decided to just have a lie-in, and Molly met his warm, shining eyes, she thought she could begin to fathom that Greg felt just the same. So inexplicably lucky to have found love in someone they had considered off their league and the glowing warmth of fulfillment when they felt they could do good for each other.  
The silver-haired man planted a kiss on her shoulder and her temple, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "I love you too." Molly mumbled sleepily and rested her head against his chest, finally closing her eyes.


End file.
